1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique of determining the facial expression of an object to capture an image.
2. Description of the Related Art
When photographing a person with an image sensing apparatus such as a digital still camera, it is desired to sense an image which satisfies the object person, such as an image when he smiles or does not close his eyes.
There has conventionally been known a technique of determining whether a captured image is preferable, and recording it in accordance with the determination result.
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-347277 discloses a technique of detecting a change of object's eyes, including blinking and a change of the line of sight, and when a predetermined capturing condition is met, capturing an image.
According to a technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-294498, when an object makes a desired facial expression or pose, a camera automatically determines the timing as a photo opportunity and captures an image.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-049631 discloses a technique of determining whether the object closes his eyes when the user presses the shutter button of a camera, and if the object closes his eyes, issuing a warning without capturing an image.
However, an error may occur when the camera simultaneously uses, for example, a function of automatically capturing an image when it is determined that a person smiles, and a function of inhibiting image capturing when he closes his eyes. More specifically, the eyes of a person generally narrow when he smiles, and even a smile is highly likely determined to be eye closure. When this occurs, the user may miss an opportunity to photograph a smiling object.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2000-347277 and 2004-294498 do not consider a case in which a plurality of facial expressions are simultaneously determined as described above.